TM Frozen Solid

[XTREME1]

This can't be good. I hoping the antifreeze I put it is enough to take care of the interior components, but my line was frozen so I am doing a thaw first

 

[Fred Homan]

Did you have a heater did it stop working? :shock: Disconnect your line all the way and bring it inside. Put it in a sink/tub of hot water.

 

[Lee Stockwell]

Always drain (or vacuum) your solution lines when wrapping up. Drain the water from wand valves after each winter job as well.

Other than potential broken fittings immediately, freezing shortens the life of hoses by breaking or stretching the reinforcing fibers or wires.

I've many times had to stick a spool of hose in a hot bathtub to thaw.

 

[XTREME1]

dodged a bullet. The hoses are fine and everything checks out. Luckily I antifreezed all my tools and pulled most of my hoses off the truck. I was worried about the heat exchangers but they seem to be fine. I am going to bring it to prochem in the AM to give it a full check up.

 

[danpauselius]

My truck got down to 35 degrees last night. That's with foam core walls and two heaters running. I guess I'll be insulating the roof soon.

 

[SRI Cleaning]

Dan, what kind of heaters are you running? I have one of those radiator type electric ones. I have it running full blast in a 12' box truck but i am still worried about it when it gets bitter cold like now. I think i need a fan to move some of the air around because i am afraid that some areas of the truck can still freeze.

 

[DangerkittyToTheRescue]

A neat little trick for winterizing is to use compressed air blow out your solution hoses and tools instead of using antifreeze in them.

You save in anti-freeze costs and you save time by not having to flush out the hoses / tools of anti-freeze prior to starting work for the day.

 

[rhyde]

nothing beats my heated shop

 

[Charlie Lyman]

Freezing always scares me. I keep the van in the garage, and keep an eye on the therometer. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and go check on it. If all is good I kiss her goodnight and go back to my warm bed.

I did have a scare the other night, I came home from my night job and one of the kids left the garage open. It was 28 in the garage and 40 in the truck. Thankfully the van is insulated.

 

[Becker]

You winterize it every night?

That has got to be a PITA!

Insulate the walls, get a quality heater, and heat the thing over night. Glue some 1/2 compressed foam the the ceiling.. That works wonders alone as we all know heat rises.

I knew I was going good when the inside of my van was toasty warm and the snow on the roof had not melted.

Never had to scrape windows!

Now the van is pulled indoors at night, best option by far.

 

[bob vawter]

"nothing beats my heated shop"

OH YEA!!! What kinna heat do you has in yor shop....?

I gotta Radiant 40' tube at the top and all across the back of my shop....may i please say TWO WORDS....



toa sty!

 

[XTREME1]

I have insulated walls. I usually run 2 ceramic heaters but decided to try the winterizing and it worked. I just didn't think about winterizing inlets. So I picked up a circulating hose today.

 

[Becker]

I only winterized one time in all my years of owning a TM.

I went away for 2 weeks around thanksgiving.

Otherwise it is worth the heater at night when the van is in use daily.

I might be wrong but I will take a guess and say your ceiling is not insulated.
I only guess this because you have a box van. And most box trucks, vans etc have semi transparent ceilings for light.

 

[XTREME1]

no insulated ceiling. It is the first time I have had a freezing problem because I always kept it heated. Boy it sucked going out there getting ready for a couple jobs to find that. Got most of the day off though.

 

[floorguy]

I went and worked yesterday and have had the trailer heated...not insulated, buts its plenty warm when i poke my head in to check that it is on..

but my hose of the propane unit was froze at the end (its by the back door, away from the heater) what a pita...put it in hot water to thaw it out...


need hooks to hang them up higher in the heat

 

[Ricky Thurman]

another reason I do love Texas!!!



It got down into the upper teens the last couple nights. You definitely want to keep a heater going, but It would be a super rare occasion for it to get so cold that a simple ceramic or space heater wont be good enough.

 

[TimP]

It got down to the lower twenties here tonight in north Florida. I just put the TM in my garage and forget about it. It may of been 40? in the garage this morning and yesterday was the coldest night since I've had the TM. Although I haven't run the TM today....tomorrow I will however lets just hope I didn't speak too soon. :?

 

[R W]

Man, I don't feel so left out. 20*'s in Florida? I keep mine in a heated 3 car garage, with an overhead Reznor set at about 45*.

To Bobby V.....I got a chance to buy 2 - 40 foot infrared heating units for $400. I think I just might pick them up. They are nice....they heat only objects, like the machines, the van, the concrete floor, and radiate heat to the air from the heated objects.

 

[Jim Martin]

I had to roll my window up the other day.............





Brrrrr..........

 

[boazcan]

Jim -

That is prices here are always such an issue because these guys finally get tired of all that crap and move!!

Had to roll up the windows today too! :shock:

 

[Becker]

Yeah,like you never get frost in TX, heck I drove from Dallas to San Angelo in a blizzard of 10 inches, freezing rain, wrecks everywhere.

A year later, pretty much the same thing, just not as much snow.

 

[Rex Tyus]

Man, I don't feel so left out. 20*'s in Florida? I keep mine in a heated 3 car garage, with an overhead Reznor set at about 45*.

23 this morning to be exact. If I would have had one nasty customer today I would have taken the day off. Cold weather sucks. If I lived in a frigid climate I swear I would move.

 

[Guest]

Greg why don't you pull the truck in the warehouse?

 

[XTREME1]

I need a garage tall enough and when I talked to the architect he told me how much it would cost. That is one of the reasons I am looking for a retail outlet also.

I was very lucky today, everything inside the machine was winterized it was the inlet hose and a 25 ft section of hose and the section of hose was more stiff from the cold than frozen. It when I felt the inlet hose it scared the begeezes out of me. I just got the Apex in either late sept or early october

 

[dallasdj]

another reason to coat garage floors

 

[KevinL]

It got up to 25 today after yesterdays high of 13. Did 3 jobs today with no problems besides tracking in snow. I've never frozen a hose in almost 10 years in the biz.